It is known to provide a stand for gaming machines such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like to support the machine at a position convenient for play by a player. Often these machines are placed side by side on one or more stands to define a bank of machines.
In relation to known gaming machines, these machines are adapted to receive wagers in the form of coins or tokens. When the wager of the coin or token is inserted, the coin passes a coin tester which verifies the authenticity of the wager and is directed to a machine hopper contained within the gaming machine housing. When a payout is made by the machine or the player cashes out, coins or tokens are dispensed from the machine hopper.
Because the reservoir defined by the machine hopper is limited due to the size of the machine and the need to include electronic and mechanical components in the housing, it is known to provide a machine hopper overflow bucket in the stand below the machine. When the machine hopper is full, additional wagered tokens or coins are directed through a hole in the bottom of the machine and to the bucket in the stand. At scheduled intervals personnel remove the buckets from the stands below the machines for weighing and counting of the coins.
Because the buckets may be heavy, injury to personnel sometimes occurs as a result of the bending, kneeling and pulling necessary to remove the bucket from the stand. It would be useful to devise a system which would not require personnel to bend, stoop, reach and pull to unload hopper overflow. Further in this regard, it would be useful to remotely know and monitor when overflow is being removed and to prevent unauthorized unloading of the overflow. Still further, it would be advantageous to provide a system which can provide for the emptying of several stands such as in a bank of slot machines and which provides a means to secure the stands from unauthorized access to buckets or hoppers contained therein.